TRANSFER OF PETROL

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 October 1944, Page 2

TRANSFER OF PETROL

BREACHES OF* REGULATIONS CHRISTCHURCH, October 26. That it was illegal under the Oil Fuel Regulations, to transfer petrol, even as a gift, to others without a permit, was pointed out by the Magistrate (Mr Raymond Ferner, S.M.) in the Magistrate’s Court to-day, during the hearing of charges brought against a garage company, its man-aging-director, and three other defendants, one a major in the Armed Forces, and the others former Army officers.

Palmer and Doak, Ltd., garage proprietors, of Rangiora, were charged that on or about October 31, 1943, they transferred 40 gallons of petrol to Leslie David Hastie and Thomas Wylie McDonald, without a permit. John Pitt Palmer x aged 48, managingdirector of the company, was charged that, having supplied 40 gallons of petrol to Hastie and McDonald on October 31, 1943, he refused on August 24, 1944, to supply information to a police constable as to where the petrol had been obtained. Thomas Wylie McDonald, aged 39, and Leslie David Hastie, were each charged with obtaining 16 gallons of petrol from Palmer and Doak on October 31, 1943, without a permit. Transvaal Walter Exton, aged 45, a major in the Army, was charged with obtaining eight gallans of petrol from, McDonald on or about December 1, 1943, without a permit. Mr R. A. Young appeared for Palmer and Doak, Ltd., and for John Pitt Palmer; Mr C. S. Thomas represented Hastie, and Mr T .A .Gresson appeared for McDonald. All the defendants pleaded guilty. For the prosecution, DetectiveSergeant A .A. Herron said that towards the end of 1943, Hastie, McDonald, and Exton were officers attached to the transport section of the Army. Palmer had sent a drum of petrol to Christchurch, addressed to McDonald, but intended for his and Hastie’s use. It had been a gift from Palmer. Exton had received’ eight gallons of petrol from the original consignees, also as a gift. Palmer had told the police that he had originally obtained the petrol from a friend, whose name he had refused to divulge, holding that if he did so he would be breaking faith. Mr Young, addresing the Court, said Palmer had told him that in country districts petrol frequently changed hands. He did not know that only petrol coupons were legally transferable, and that even for a person to give one gallon of petrol to a friend was an offence.

For Hastie, Mr Thomas said he had been officer in charge of Army transport in the Christchurch area. In the course of his work, he received lists of Army vehicles for sale, but he had nothing to do with valuations. Palmer and Doak, in common with other garages, sold the vehicles on a commission basis. Hastie himself, when he received the petrol, had no idea that petrol could not be given away. Every one of the petrol stations had free coupons “floating about,” added Mr Thomas, and they were obtained by proprietors in the ordinary course of their dealings with customers. McDonald had let Exton have eight gallons of petrol from the drum received from Palmer, said Mr Gresson. No monetary profit had been gained. Exton was ignorant of the origins of the petrol. McDonald had been officer in charge of the Army transport depot at Todd Motors’ garage in Christchurch, until it was closed down. The drum of petrol had been left at the depot. There could be no suggestion that the petrol was Army petrol, as it was red ethyl spirit. It was submitted that the publicity of the Court proceedings would be sufficient punishment for his clients, added Mr Gresson.

The obligations of the Oil Fuel Regulations cast a grievous burden on all people who owned cars, said ‘the Magistrate. That burden was borne all the more easily when motorists knew that all were equally affected. Substantial penalties were provided for breaches of the regulations, but he would take into consideration the fact that the charges really concerned only one transaction, which had not been carried out Tor profit. It was his duty to impose a fine of £2O on the company concerned. While there might appear to be nothing inherently wrong in the conduct of McDonald, Hastie, and Exton, he wollld impose a penalty of £2 each. Palmer would also be fined £2.

ALLEGED FORGERY OF COUPONS

AUCKLAND, October 26. Charged with forging a card of petrol coupons on June 29 with intent that they should be acted on as genuine, Donald Lamon, aged 31, a salesman, and Charles White, aged 32, a farmer, stood trial before Mr. Justice Fair. They were each further charged with conspiring with each other and with other persons unknown, at Whangarei, to commit the crime of uttering forged petrol coupons.

The Crown Prosecutor, Mr. V. Pt. Meredith, said that on account of the dearth of petrol there was an obvious temptation for somebody to forge coupons, for which a fairly good price could be obtained. New coupons for the following year were issued on July 1. On Thursday, June 29, Detective-Sergeant Finlay, of Whangarei, learned that the two accused had arrived from Auckland, and his inquiries resulted in a batch of forged coupons being recovered from the office of the Settlers’ Hotel, Whangarei, where the two men were staying. Lamon, it was alleged, booked in under an assumed name at room 23, and White booked in under his own name. Evidence would be given that Lamon wrapped up a small parcel and gave it to a hotel porter, asking him to look after it very carefully, as it was valuable. This porter handed it to the night porter, from whom Lamon recovered it at 3.30 a.m. About 9.30 o’clock on Friday morning the parcel was again deposited at the hotel office. Witnesses would say that Lamon offered to sell coupons that day to a businessman, and that White produced cards of coupons in an hotel bar. When Detective-Sergeant Finlay accused White of having petrol coupons he denied. Next morning, the police recovered a parcel marked “Room 23” from the office, and found it to contain 121 full cards of four-gallon coupons for the year 1944-45. Lamon at first denied that he had left the. parcel at the office, but later said it contained two handkerchiefs and some odds and ends. The hearing was adjourned. TO-DAY’S EVIDENCE. AUCKLAND, October 27. The trial of Donald Lamon and Charles White on a charge of forging a card of petrol coupons was continued in the Supreme Court today. Ross Nelson said he was standing beside White in an hotel office. He felt a tug at his overcoat and later found a wallet in the coat pocket. About half an hour later White asked him about the wallet, and witness said it had been handed to the hotel proprietor. When witness asked “What was the idea?”. White smiled but did not reply. James Ellis Wilson, superintendent of the Government printing works, testified that coupon cards found in a parcel were forgeries. In reply to the Judge, he said that the forgery could be done in three days. To Mr. Henry, witness said it would not require a first class artist to do the tracing, but a man would

need to have had a fail’ amount of lithographic experience. (Proceeding).